1977 Phillies Photocards

I updated this post here in November 2020 and this original post is now outdated.

 

Number of Cards:  38
Card Size:  3 1/4" x 5 1/2"
Description:  As was the case with all Phillies photocards issued throughout the 1970s, these cards feature a black and white photo with the players' name below.  The backs of the cards are blank and there's no indication on the cards themselves that they're from 1977.  Some of the cards contain blue facsimile autographs, as noted on the checklist below.  Also, some of the cards featuring portrait photos of the players are cropped so that there's a larger than usual white space on the bottom border.  The Hutton card below is an example of this.

How Distributed:  The cards were handed out to fans individually and supplied to the players in order to reply to fan mail or honor autograph requests.  I could be wrong, but I don't believe the cards were ever available in complete set form.

Complete Standard Checklist:

Fred Andrews (auto) Carroll Beringer CO Tim Blackwell (auto) Bob Boone (auto) Larry Bowa (auto) Ollie Brown (auto) Warren Brusstar (auto) Steve Carlton (auto) Larry Christenson Billy DeMars CO Barry Foote Gene Garber Terry Harmon (auto) Richie Hebner (auto) Tommy Hutton Dane Iorg Dave Johnson Jay Johnstone (auto) Jim Kaat (auto)

Randy Lerch Jim Lonborg Greg Luzinski (auto) Garry Maddox Jerry Martin Bake McBride Tim McCarver Tug McGraw (auto) Danny Ozark MG Ron Reed (auto) Ray Rippelmeyer CO Mike Schmidt (swinging) Mike Schmidt (portrait) Ted Sizemore Tony Taylor CO (auto) Bobby Tolan (auto) Wayne Twitchell (auto) Tommy Underwood (auto) Bobby Wine CO (auto)

One and Done (3):  Andrews, Blackwell, Iorg
First Appearances (7):  Brusstar, Foote, Hebner, Johnson, Lerch, McBride, Sizemore
Returning Players (22):  Boone, Bowa, Brown, Carlton, Christenson, Garber, Harmon, Hutton, Johnstone, Kaat, Lonborg, Luzinski, Maddox, Martin, McCarver, McGraw, Reed, Schmidt (two versions), Tolan, Twitchell, Underwood

Your only chance of owning Phillies cards for Andrews, Blackwell and Iorg comes with this set.  The First Appearance designation is for players who have never before appeared within a Phillies team issued set.  These players may have already appeared on other Phillies baseball cards.

Manager (1):  Ozark
Coaches (5):  Beringer, DeMars, Ripplemeyer, Taylor, Wine
Phillie Phanatic (0)
Broadcasters (0)
Commemorative Cards (0)

Variations/Rarities:  I'm not aware of any variations to be found within this set.  But that doesn't mean there aren't any . . .

Trivia:  I found the cards featured here through eBay.  It was only through the awesome photos provided at The Trading Card Database for this set that I was able to identify these cards as being from 1977.  Collector Dave Sosidka uploaded the checklist and scans of all cards to the database back in 2011.  The Beckett.com database has no record of this set.

Thanks to Rick's comments, I've added three more cards to the checklist above not included on the checklist at The Trading Card Database - Foote, McBride and a Schmidt variation featuring a portrait shot.  The Foote and McBride cards would have been mid-season additions, as both were acquired in separate trades on June 15th.

Resources:  The Trading Card Database; Phillies collector Rick (@rickphils)